A Lesson.
Never, say never.
No, I am no a Justin Bieber fan… I wish I still didn’t know who he was. I was blissfully unaware for a loooong time… Alas, no this is NOT about him.. I digress.
As a parent, and probably as an adult, I think we all think “Oh my god, I am NEVER going to do that/eat that/be there/loose that/go there/cry over that/laugh at them/etc”
Here are some lessons learned for me/us-
“I will never let my baby cry it out, how could someone let there baby cry for 40 minutes! That’s horrible!” 8 months later, Cooper sat in his crib screaming off and on for 2 hours. I couldn’t go in, it made it worse. I sat and watched a movie with Brandon and bit my finger nails…
“I will never buy store bought baby food! Think of the chemicals!” Bah, Cooper is fine and he only got store bought food, I made his oatmeal for months.. but veggies/fruit.. all from Heinz! Avery.. I make some veggies- the easy ones like squash and sweet potato but that is because- a) baby food went up 20 cents since Coop was a baby (!!) and b) I am a better cook then I was when Cooper was a babe. I do not make her oatmeal, I do not make it all.. I just make what I can, when I can.
“I will never, ever break the feeding rules! Allergies are scary” With Cooper I was eager to try new things, but I did not however break the 3-day-rule. No new foods until 3 days have past. With Avery, the poor second, hungry child.. she gets everything, and anything. I try to do only one new food a day, but there is definitely no wait period between.
“I will never let my kid boss me around” Ha. Hahahahahahahahaha.Sigh. I hate to admit it, but alot of the time I just want to avoid the melt down. I do stand firm if I can.. but if I can avoid a situation that might wake his sister up from a long awaited nap, or a melt down in the store (over something silly- i am not afraid to have a screaming child but if it’s over a $1 car.. well…) I will concede… eventually. I think compromise is a valuable thing for parents and kids. So, I bow down when I need to. I also do know when to stand up to him, but he is three and learning boundaries and I think as parents sometimes we need to see their side– how they think things through.
“I will never get up before dawn” I woke up at 5am with Cooper for a month while he got used to not nursing first thing in the morning.. Eventually things worked themselves out.. Did you know Big Comfy Couch is (or was) on at 530am? I also got some awesome cuddles at that time!
“I won’t let my kid watch cartoons…” Well, we can avoid cartoons, but let’s just figure out how hot I want my coffee, Okay?
“I can’t believe we have to hold up all social family events for those napping kids!” Naps are so very important for all parties. If you are at an event and want to get it going– ask yourself this: Would you rather have happy children or those that are going to break down at the drop of a hat? Those that are smiling and laughing or that are pouting and crying over.. well, nothing? Right, wait for naps to be over.
“I will fit my kids into MY schedule, not the other way around” Well, good luck to you. My schedule is COMPLETELY different then it was 4 years ago, and I would never change a thing.. and this is all thanks to my kids. They made this schedule (maybe with some tweakin’ from mom though)
There are SO many things you could and will say about being a parent, my recommendation is never, ever, say never. Say “I hope I won’t” or “I hope I will” but there really are no guarantees. You don’t know what your kid is going to be like, or what YOU are going to be like.
Heaven forbid your child gets hungry and/or tired while you are out in public– because for Cooper and I am sure ALOT of other kids this is a bad combo. Keep him feed with the good, healthy stuff and things go alot smoother. Heck, this is true with my husband too.. when he gets hungry.. Look out! 
Love, Me